Louie Soriano could be as tough as nails, but he also had a heart of gold for community projects and good works. He was one of the best who ever came out of Bremerton in school, athletics and community endeavors. If something good was done or being done, chances are Louie was part of it.

“What a warrior,” said Silverdale’s Larry Tuke, a community activist like Soriano. “He never lacked a (strong) opinion, never lacked insight, and never was afraid to be a contrarian, really never afraid of anything or anyone.

“Yet he had a kind, soft heart for kids and folks in need that many never knew because much of his and (wife) Joan’s charity was done without fanfare.”

Soriano came along during the golden age of sports in Bremerton, when Bremerton’s population reached around 80,000 during World War II. He became a remarkable athlete who willed himself to success.

Tracyton’s Bob Fredericks, also a community treasure, remembers when he first came across Soriano. It was in the fifth grade at the old Central School on the corner of Fifth Street and Warren Avenue. They became best buddies there, a friendship that lasted until Soriano took his last breath at his home in Henderson, Nevada, on Feb. 22, climaxing a furious health battle that had gone on for many of his last years.

“Louie was a fighter," Fredericks said. “He had all these health problems (cancer, heart, etc.) and he fought all of them. He made up his mind this was not going to kill him. He would just will himself to keep going. He was an amazing guy.”

Soriano lived on Fifth Street right across from the old Union high school. The school had four dirt tennis courts, where Fredericks’ father taught him how to play. He and Fredericks played often.

“Louie was a great tennis player, a great racquetball player, a great basketball player, played second base and pitched on the baseball team and his mom (Rose) wouldn’t let him play football and that saved my life,” Fredericks laughs. “Everybody who played football (back then) is dead. I broke my pinky finger in my third day of football practice and when I got home my mom said, ‘Louie’s mom won’t let him play football and you can’t play football.' That’s the best thing that happened to me. We had smart moms.”

But don’t think Soriano would not have been a good football player. When he and other kids played sandlot football, it was clear Soriano was the best player.

“He was better than (Don) Heinrich,” Fredericks said. “He was so good at handling the ball, faking and passing and confounding everybody. He would have been a super quarterback – super, and he was only five-foot-10½ inches tall. Don’t get me wrong. Heinrich was a super quarterback, but he was younger.”

Soriano became a two-time all-state guard in basketball under the coaching of Ken Willis at Bremerton and earned a scholarship in 1947 to play at Washington. He was a three-year starter with the Huskies, earning All-Pacific Coast and honorable mention All-American honors while averaging 17 points his junior season.

Soriano graduated in 1951, played one year of semi-pro ball with the Buchan Bakers and then returned to Bremerton, where he eventually started an insurance business and became the main downtown influence for most of his remaining active life.

After his playing career ended, Louie Soriano became a respected referee who called an NCAA Final Four and worked with the NBA.(Photo: KITSAP SUN FILE PHOTO)

Soriano -- along with Bremerton guys Bob Dotson, Jim Carlson and Dick Ottele -- started their own referring association and began working Navy Yard basketball games at Building 502 in the shipyard. He eventually become a Pacific Coast League referee, which he did for many years, including working an NCAA Final Four.

From there, he leaped to the NBA where for 22 years he reported on the work of NBA officials.

One Louie's favorite stories was about an NBA game at the Portland Rose Garden.

“This was back in 1970s when they were still doing two-man (officiating crews),” Louie said. “Dick Bavetta and Earl Strom hated each other and they were paired with each other for a game at the Portland Rose Garden. It was a ragged game. There were whistles everywhere. They (Bavetta and Strom) weren’t having a good game.

“At halftime I go down on the court because they are not coming out of the locker room. With about three minutes to go, Strom comes out. I don’t see Bavetta. I went over to Strom and ask, ‘Where is Dick?’ Strom says, ‘He is flat on his ass in the dressing room.’ I say, ‘What do you mean?’ ‘I cold-cocked him,’ Strom said. ‘You got to be kidding me.’ ‘No, he’s out like a light. (Bleep), I will take care of this game by myself.’

“I had to go back and call my supervisor and tell him what has happened. He goes, ‘You are putting me on.’ I say, ‘No, Bavetta is not coming out.’ Both of them got heavily fined, although the NBA doesn’t talk about those things.”

Nobody knew (until now) about the time in 1951 when Ted Tappe, one of the top athletes to ever come out of Bremerton, was going to quit the Washington State University basketball team on the eve of its battle in Seattle with Washington and Louie Soriano.

Tappe contacted Soriano, who mentored the troubled Tappe for many years, and the two met secretly. Tappe expressed his fears to Soriano, who tried bolstering his friend’s confidence.

Louie Soriano was an honorable mention All-American who averaged 17 points per game during his junior season at the University of Washington.(Photo: KITSAP SUN FILE PHOTO)

“Ted had misgivings of being in school,” said Fredericks, who was told of the meeting by Soriano. “Louie gave him positive reinforcements and it all worked out.”

Soriano looked after Tappe for the rest of his life (he died in 2004), often lending him money.

Fredericks got choked up talking about Soriano. They had a close relationship that included a lot of plotting to make things better in the community.

“Louie and I disagreed on a lot of things,” Fredericks said. “But one thing we agreed on was to support local businesses. We always preached that. Support the community.”

“He was a good guy,” says Darwin Gilchrist, who played basketball with Soriano at Bremerton. “He helped out where he could. He was very emotional about downtown Bremerton (where he owned property). He was a fighter. He wouldn’t give in. That is the way I knew him. He would stand his ground.”

It was a long 88 years full of ups and downs, more ups then downs really. He was the face of Bremerton for so long and now that face is gone. Hopefully, he will be remembered for many years for being the guy who only wanted the best for his town and its people.

“Louie has shaped and built our community, and is an important part of our history,” Tuke said.

Terry Mosher is a former sports writer at the Kitsap Sun who publishes The Sports Paper at sportspaper.org. Reach him at bigmosher@msn.com.